Abstract
The WNT16 locus is a major determinant of cortical bone thickness and nonvertebral fracture risk in humans. The disability, mortality and costs caused by osteoporosis-induced nonvertebral fractures are enormous. We demonstrate here that Wnt16-deficient mice develop spontaneous fractures as a result of low cortical thickness and high cortical porosity. In contrast, trabecular bone volume is not altered in these mice. Mechanistic studies revealed that WNT16 is osteoblast derived and inhibits human and mouse osteoclastogenesis both directly by acting on osteoclast progenitors and indirectly by increasing expression of osteoprotegerin (Opg) in osteoblasts. The signaling pathway activated by WNT16 in osteoclast progenitors is noncanonical, whereas the pathway activated in osteoblasts is both canonical and noncanonical. Conditional Wnt16 inactivation revealed that osteoblast-lineage cells are the principal source of WNT16, and its targeted deletion in osteoblasts increases fracture susceptibility. Thus, osteoblast-derived WNT16 is a previously unreported key regulator of osteoclastogenesis and fracture susceptibility. These findings open new avenues for the specific prevention or treatment of nonvertebral fractures, a substantial unmet medical need.
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Acknowledgements
We are grateful to C. Uggla, M. Petersson, A. Hansevi, A. Lie, I. Lundgren, B. Aleksic and the staff at the Turku Center for Disease Modeling (TCDM) for technical assistance. We thank M. Johansson at Bergman Labora for help with photographing the embryos. We thank R. Brommage (Lexicon Pharmaceuticals Inc.) for providing the Wnt16−/−, exon 1−3 mice. This study was supported by the Swedish Research Council, the Swedish Foundation for Strategic Research, COMBINE, the Avtal om Läkarutbildning och Forskning/Läkarutbildningsavtalet (ALF/LUA) research grant in Gothenburg, Linköping University, Swedish National Graduate School in Odontological Sciences, the Lundberg Foundation, the Torsten and Ragnar Söderberg's Foundation, the Swedish Rheumatism Association, the Royal 80 Year Fund of King Gustav V, the Novo Nordisk Foundation and the German Research Foundation (SPP 1468 Tu220/6, Immunobone). The work at TCDM was supported by funding provided by University of Turku and Biocenter Finland. This work was supported in part by a grant to R.B. from the US National Institutes of Health (R01AR064724). The HSDM micro-CT core facility performed the micro-CT analyses of the Wnt16−/−, exon 1−3 mice.
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S.M.-S., P.H. and X.L. contributed equally to this work. S.M.-S. was responsible for the breeding, phenotyping and treatment of the Wnt16−/−, exon 1−4 and conditional Wnt16flox/flox mouse strains. P.H. conducted the in vitro culture experiments and analyses of primary osteoblasts, cocultures and osteoclasts. X.L. was responsible for the breeding and phenotyping of the Wnt16−/−, exon 1−3 mouse colony and conducted in vitro and ex vivo experiments. H.S. assisted with animal experiments and performed initial bone histomorphometry analyses. K.N. performed bone histomorphometry analyses. A.E.B. assisted with animal experiments and performed micro-CT analysis. K.S., S.H.W., H.F., H.I. and C.E. assisted with animal experiments. B.K. performed the FACS analysis. A. Koskela and J. Tuukkanen performed the three-point bending experiments. F.-P.Z. and M.P. generated the conditional Wnt16flox/flox mice. E.E.E., F.Z. and L.S. performed the immunohistochemistry. A.H. performed western blots. M.B. produced the WNT16 liposomes. A. Kassem and C.L. performed the inflammation-induced calvarial bone loss model. O.S. and P.A. performed the rat metaphyseal WNT16 injections. J.Q.F. provided the Dpm1-cre mice. J. Tuckermann provided the Runx2-cre mice. S.M.-S., P.H., R.B., U.H.L., F.G. and C.O. designed and supervised the project and wrote the manuscript.
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Movérare-Skrtic, S., Henning, P., Liu, X. et al. Osteoblast-derived WNT16 represses osteoclastogenesis and prevents cortical bone fragility fractures. Nat Med 20, 1279–1288 (2014). https://doi.org/10.1038/nm.3654
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/nm.3654
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